EUREKA SEVEN #49 -- Watch & Learn

Perhaps it’s more a testament to me being so terribly de-sensitized,
but I nevertheless must comment again on how understated this show is. Yes, I’m describing
something that just featured one futuristic jet plane spearing another, vastly
larger airplane as “understated.” It all
comes down to Dewey’s death - - or, maybe more precisely, what is said after
it.

At first, it looked like they were going for some uncharacteristically
brutal black comedy by having the big badguy get shut up, mid-sentence, with a
metal, multi-ton sucker punch. Then, the blow is softened (both figuratively
and literally, perhaps) by Dewey's miraculous reappearance. It looks like Holland’s
going have to finish his own dirty work... but then Dewey takes the ol’ honorable
swordsman’s way out and puts some lead in his own skull.

What does Dewey say then? It’s not some vengeful blood oath. He says
there are so many things that they all could’ve, and should’ve, done better. His
choice of words brings my thoughts on the show back to notions I’ve had from the
beginning - - that Gekkostate are a team of replacement or seat-filler rebels.

That’s
not actually a bad thing, narrative-wise. It makes all this business more
interesting and unpredictable, certainly. We really don’t need another band of cookie-cutter heroes. Still, you can’t help but think of those archetypes,
because these pilots do feel like they’re notably inadequate for these
circumstances in comparison to them.

We've only got 22 minutes left to wrap this party up, and considering how it's damn near impossible to have callback to everything that's been set up in this mega series, I'm suspecting that the candy-coated conclusion's going to spin out with a mumble instead of a bang.

It won't be a frustrating ending, though. It'll be an understated one.

Watch this episode, "Shout to the Top!" here and decide
for yourself, then read my comments on the previous episode here.

How is it understated? Dewey's made it clear from Day 1 he has a God complex and thinks he can change the world for the better.

As for the ending, that depends how you interpret it. It's not an Eva mindscrew "make no sense" ending but I've seen people get pretty confused by it. (Which makes me question how much they've been paying attention at the time) It also is pretty lovey-dovey to nausea levels. But damnit, compared to the manga version, it's Shakespeare.

@zaldar: Uh I did? All I said was it was lovey-dovey. I can see you getting some kind of spoiler from it but it's not like I directly told you what happened. Trust me, there's still some surprises to be found by the end.

And the Eva ending makes sense? What? 0_o Sometimes I don't understand how people can watch that series and not get confused as to what's going on at times.

@LordTerminal: Saying that it's "lovey-dovey" isn't that much of a giveaway, based on how current events have played out. Speaking of the ending, I heard from my sister that things turn sour for everyone in the manga. She spoke of the following events transpiring:

Dominic and Eureka die, Holland loosed his hand, and Renton is ridiculed by Eureka's kids for letting her die.

If these are true, and the sequel for the anime is already out, should I just disregard these facts and take the anime as canon from now on?

@LordTerminal: Yes the eva ending makes sense, philosophically and narativly. The human instrumentality project was a project to combine human consciousness with the eva's to bring a world mind and the next step in human evolution, to make humanity a God. (This is actually a plausible interpretation of the dead sea scrolls unlike much of the rest of the show). The "angels" were an attempt to stop this process. Shinji for what ever reason was instrumental to the process likely because of the pliability of his brain (kids have more pliable brains in general which is why they were needed to pilot the eva's.) People had to be killed to free up their spirits/minds/souls to join the group consciousness. Shinji's choice revolved around either letting this happen or deciding that life was not worth living and ending the human race. All of this is present and understandable in the series (the movies muddle it which is why I pretend they don't exist).

Don't watch Lain by the way if this was hard to get. I love it and own it but it makes eva look easy to understand at some points (and has another final episode that is heavy on white words flashed on a black screen to show internal thoughts).